Navy: Drug Seizures

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what drug seizures were made by Royal Navy vessels since 1997; where the seizures took place; what the value of each seizure was; and if he will make a statement.

Bob Ainsworth: I will write to the hon. Member.
	 Substantive answer from Bill Rammell to Nick Harvey:
	In my predecessor's written answer, on 12 May 2009, (Official Report, column 753w), it was undertaken to write to you regarding your request for a list of the drug seizures made by Royal Naval vessels since 1997; where the seizures took place; and what the value of each seizure was. In the course of this research, US officials have been consulted, who have kindly shared information from their own very detailed records.
	As you will recognize, disrupting illegal trafficking of weapons and narcotics is among the many important tasks we ask our Armed Forces to conduct. The Royal Navy conducts Flag State Verification procedures on Gulf Region Shipping and has also provided significant support to US counter narcotics operations in the Caribbean. Further disruption operations are conducted whenever opportunities arise during the Royal Navy's standing patrol tasks, including within UK territorial waters, in support of operations led by the Serious Organised Crime Agency. These operations have contributed to the seizure of large quantities of illegal narcotics which otherwise might have ended up on UK, US and European streets. A comprehensive list of seizures since 1997 is set out below. This information updates previous estimates and draws on additional information provided by US law enforcement officials.
	
		
			  Year  Month  Unit  Location  Quantity  Est  v alue  (£) 
			 1997 Apr HMS York Home Waters 4 tonnes cannabis 11.5 million 
			  June HMS Edinburgh Home Waters 3 tonnes cannabis 8.6 million 
			   
			 1998 June HMS Monmouth Home Waters 2 tonnes cannabis 8 million 
			   
			 1999 Mar HMS Marlborough Caribbean 0.5 tonnes (assessed) jettisoned 20 million 
			  May HMS Marlborough Caribbean 4.7 tonnes 188 million 
			  May HMS Marlborough Caribbean 4.6 tonnes 184 million 
			  Aug HMS Northumberland Caribbean 0.45 tonnes (assessed) jettisoned 18 million 
			  Oct HMS Northumberland Caribbean 0.85 tonnes (assessed) jettisoned 34 million 
			  Nov HMS Northumberland Caribbean 2.12 tonnes; 7 Kgs of heroin 85 million 
			   
			 2000 Jun HMS Manchester Caribbean 0.85 tonnes (assessed) jettisoned 34 million 
			   
			 2001 Sep HMS Coventry Belize 1200 Kgs cocaine 48 million 
			   
			 2002 Jul HMS Newcastle Caribbean 100 bales Marijuana note 2 
			  Jul HMS Newcastle Caribbean 23 bales cocaine note 2 
			  Sep HMS Grafton Caribbean 21 bales Marijuana note 2 
			  Oct HMS Grafton Caribbean 750 Kg Cocaine 30 million 
			  Nov HMS Grafton Caribbean 7 bales Marijuana (5 bales lost) note 2 
			   
			 2003 May HMS Cumberland Home Waters 3800 Kgs cocaine 152 million 
			  Jun HMS Iron Duke Caribbean 131 Bales/3275Kg Cocaine 131 million 
			  Sep RFA Wave Knight Caribbean 116lbs marijuana 152,000 
			  Oct HMS Manchester Caribbean 1052 Kgs cocaine 42 million 
			   
			 2004 Jan RFA Wave Knight Caribbean 650Kgs cocaine 26 million 
			  Nov RFA Wave Ruler Caribbean 1.8 tonnes cocaine 72 million 
			   
			 2005 Jan RFA Wave Ruler Caribbean 1.8 tonnes cocaine 72 million 
			  Jan RFA Wave Ruler Caribbean 1.7 tonnes cocaine 68 million 
			  Mar RFA Wave Knight Caribbean 1.5 tonnes (assessed) cocaine jettisoned by smugglers 40 million 
			  Feb RFA Wave Ruler Caribbean 0.93 tonnes cocaine 37 million 
			  May HMS Liverpool/RFA Wave Knight Caribbean 400 lbs cannabis; 0.998 tonnes cocaine; further 0.3 tonnes (assessed) jettisoned by smugglers 53 million 
			  Jun HMS Liverpool Caribbean 850 lbs cannabis; 0.3 tonnes (assessed) cocaine jettisoned by smugglers. 13 million 
			  Jul RFA Wave Ruler Caribbean 3.0 tonnes (assessed) cocaine jettisoned by smugglers 120 million 
			  Sep HMS Cumberland Caribbean 1.5 tonnes (assessed) cocaine jettisoned by smugglers 60 million 
			  Oct HMS Cumberland/RFA Wave Knight Caribbean 1.756 tonnes cocaine 70 million 
			   
			 2006 Feb HMS Southampton/RFA Grey Rover Caribbean 2.223 tonnes cocaine; a further 2.0 tonnes (assessed) jettisoned by smugglers. 169 million 
			  Sep RFA Wave Ruler Caribbean 2.5 tonnes cocaine 100 million 
			  Oct RFA Wave Ruler Caribbean 2.789 tonnes cocaine 112 million 
			  Oct HMS Argyll/RFA Gold Rover Atlantic (West Africa) 1.5 tonnes cocaine 60 million 
			  Nov HMS Argyll/RFA Fort Austin 849 NAS East Atlantic 1.33 tonnes cocaine 53 million 
			  Nov RFA Wave Ruler Caribbean 4.0 tonnes cocaine 160 million 
			  Nov RFA Wave Ruler Caribbean 2.04 tonnes cocaine 82 million 
			  Dec HMS Lancaster W Africa 3.5 tonnes (assessed) cocaine jettisoned by smugglers 140 million 
			   HMS Iron Duke East Atlantic   
			   
			 2007 May HMS Ocean Caribbean 12 Bales cocaine note 2 
			  Jun HMS Ocean Caribbean 329 Kgs cocaine; 20 Kgs heroin 14 million 
			  Oct HMS Portland/RFA Wave Knight Caribbean 3.3 tonnes (assessed) cocaine jettisoned by smugglers 132 million 
			  Dec RFA Largs Bay Caribbean 1.125 tonnes cocaine 45 million 
			   
			 2008 Mar HMS Edinburgh Middle East 7 tonnes hashish 20 million 
			  Apr HMS Montrose Middle East Waters 6-10 tonnes hashish (assessed) jettisoned by smugglers. 17 million-29 million 
			  Mar HMS Edinburgh Waters 3.5 tonnes hashish 10 million 
			  Apr HMS Montrose Middle East Waters 10 tonnes hashish 29 million 
			  Apr HMS Chatham Middle East Waters 6 tonnes hashish 17 million 
			  Jun HMS Iron Duke Caribbean 1.125 tonnes cocaine 45 million 
			  Jul HMS Iron Duke Caribbean 1.2 tonnes (assessed) cocaine jettisoned by smugglers 48 million 
			  Jul HMS Iron Duke Caribbean 2477 coca field plants from helicopter survey. n/a 
			  Sep HMS Argyll RFA/Fort Austin Home Waters 100 kg cocaine 4 million 
			  Oct HMS Northumberland Middle East 20 Kg Hashish 2.9 million 
			  Dec HMS Portland Middle East 1000 Kg (assessed) jettisoned 1.4 tonnes hashish 4 million 
			   
			 2009 Feb HMS Richmond Middle East Waters 80-90 bales (approx 2000kg) of hashish jettisoned by smugglers 5.7 million 
			  Apr HMS Portland Middle East 27 bales (each of 31 Kgs) hashish (837 Kgs) 2.4 million 
			  Notes: 1. SOCA estimates, as at June 2009, of UK street values have been applied to all seizures. 2. Where only the number of bales is known/estimated, but not their weight, no street value can be estimated retrospectively. 
		
	
	The results from forensic analysis of the many seizures in the Caribbean, provided to us by the American Joint Inter-Agency Task Force (South), have enabled us to update many of our previous estimates of the size of these seizures. Our previous answers were drawn from figures often estimated by the UK vessel at the time of the interdiction; subsequent investigations by law enforcement officials would usually have been completed after the UK vessel had left the vicinity and thus not reflected in the initial UK estimate. For interdictions when cargoes were jettisoned by the traffickers we have continued to provide the sizes assessed by the UK crew before the contraband was lost.
	The table also includes a small number of additional interdictions that have not previously been reported. In some cases these omissions are due to different approaches by individual UK ships in recording an incident as a 'seizure' or as an 'interdiction' (which may have resulted in a jettison). In others cases the reliance upon disparate ships' records may have resulted in a small number of accidental omissions as our historic responses were consolidated. The positive outcome is that the Royal Navy has had an even greater impact on narcotics trafficking than previously reported.
	It is very difficult to estimate street value of the illegal drugs seized or destroyed in these operations. The price varies greatly depending on a number of factors including supply and demand, the intended destination of the product as well as the purity of the drugs themselves when they reach their market. Not all of the seized drugs would have been intended for the UK, however for simplicity the estimated values in the table are based on the assumption that the product would have reached the UK with street values of £40,000 per kilogram of cocaine, of £45,000 per kilogram of heroin and of £2,880 per kilogram of cannabis.
	In agreement with the Serious Organised Crime Agency these valuations have been applied retrospectively across the entire historical record; thus detailing estimated values of seizures as if they had reached UK streets in 2009. We have done this because there is no reliable record of street values year on year since 1997, particularly prior to the Agency's creation in 2006. Where only the number and not size of bales seized were recorded, we have not attempted to assign a street value.
	The successes of these counter narcotics operations are considerable and to ensure that a full and accurate picture is maintained in future, I have put in place revised record-keeping policies and established a more centralised reporting mechanism which will be updated where possible with US post-forensic results.
	I hope you will find this information useful.
	I am copying this letter to other MPs who have asked similar questions in the past.